Christina Speaks

Have you heard anyone say, “Fake it till you make it?” Well, there’s really something to that—if you’re “faking” the right thing. Maybe the phrase should be changed to “Speak it before you reach it.” Sometimes (like right now for me), things don’t feel right, and we struggle to believe that we are who God said we are, so we must take steps to change our frame of mind. Changing our minds sometimes has to begin with how we walk and talk. We can change our whole outlook by walking the way we want to go.  When I am struggling to trust the Lord, it has helped me to simply say, “I trust you, Lord,” over and over again until I truly do. Another thing that helps me is to “towdah” Him. Towdah is a Hebrew word for thanksgiving (praise). It is one of seven types the Hebrew language has. Towdah is a sacrifice of praise. When you towdah the Lord, you thank and praise Him for things that have not yet occurred. You believe He will do what He says He will do, and thank Him before He does it.  “You wil

You know, I didn’t really want to have this conversation, but something my preacher said yesterday reminded me that I need to.  It’s tough for the one who encourages others each day, to admit that she too needs encouragement. Last week was an emotionally difficult week with my students. Many of them are experiencing such trials. Sometimes when we’re around people suffering, it can affect our hearts in a way that causes us to struggle as well. Satan often uses those times to speak lies of despair into our own lives. His messages are so believable, because he usually bases his lies on truth. He also tries to make us believe that we should hide our troubles, keeping our masks of perfection on for the world. But the more we keep in the dark, the more power they (and Satan) have over us.   As I felt myself go deeper into a pit, I clung to God’s word harder. I even took my real Bible to church instead of using my Bible app. Somehow I found comfort in the physical form of God’s word. Things s

What we focus on, we fixate on. And this has the possibility to either elevate us or devastate us. -Joel Muddamalle It’s true that we often find people who make us happy, but people are flawed. If we rely entirely on others for our happiness, if we rely on our situation in life to bring us joy, we will often find disappointment. The only one we can always rely on to bring us true joy is our Creator. He is good. And He is the same today as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow.  Looking back on my week, I can see how different I would feel if I had focused on anything other than God. I’ll admit that I had moments I lost the right focus and felt overwhelmed when looking at all that was in front of me — but when I came back to think about the One my life is really about, I found refreshment.  As you finish out your week, I challenge you to think back on the last several days. What have you allowed to consume your thoughts? If it wasn’t the peace of God, try something else. Try being inten

So I’ve been thinking. We all have problems. Obviously, our responses to those problems are not always the most productive. We stress out, freak out, even fall out. So let’s get down to it. What’s the real problem?   I believe it’s a faith issue.  The problem is that we attribute our human imperfections to a perfect God. We can’t truly fathom how good He is, how trustworthy He is, or how powerful and omniscient He is, so we put him in our little box of human defects, that we carry with us each day. Because we humans continue to fail each other, we assume that God will also fail us. Even really good humans sometimes hurt us and betray our trust, so I think that maybe we subconsciously assume that our good God might do the same.  The same way we try to avoid pain concerning each other by taking control of situations, by “handling” them and each other, is the same thing we often do to God. I myself have a lot of faith. A lot. However, I have come to the realization that the only reason I

Oh. Ouch. How often have we claimed that we were simply “speaking our truth” when saying what we said to that person or posting what we did on social media? I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard that one of the most important elements in our lives is to be our authentic selves. But what does that really mean? What I know is that my authentic self is the one God created me to be—The one who was created in His image. That other person who makes an appearance when she’s full of herself and running her mouth, is the one who must be denied.  “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2:20‬  If Christ could die an excruciating death on a cross, sacrificing His life for me and all of my yuck, how could I not sacrifice my ego, my words, and my right to spout my opinion for the sake of His name? Come on, who’s with me? Le

Today I want to remind you that not everyone is going to walk with you on your journey, and THAT’S OKAY. Your value is found in the Lord, not in others. Stop looking to them for validation.  Even now, there are days I struggle to get the voices of naysayers out of my head. Those “friends” who passive-aggressively made me feel I wasn’t enough. . . those “friends” who made me feel that maybe I misunderstood what God was calling me to do or not do. Sometimes it’s even the ones who say nothing at all.  I still get that weird feeling in my chest when I think of how I want to “show them” that I am more than they thought I was or wanted me to be. But that is straight from the devil. While he’s distracting me with trying to prove my worth to people who aren’t a part of my journey, I’m allowing him to take my eyes off of the road map God has in front of me. If I don’t stay on the path God has set before me, I will miss the blessings He has set just in the right place at the right time.  It’s al

Someone today is struggling to understand why things aren’t going the way they thought they would. You’ve done all you know how to do to make it right, and you continue to be disappointed. Trust me when I say, your plans are not the best ones. I’ve learned that when I try to go ahead of the Lord and “fix” things the way I think they should be, I tend to mess them up. In the past, I have even tried to fix people, thinking I know what’s best for them and their place in my life. But I’ve learned that only God can do that. As hard as it can be, our job is to love people. His job is to do the fixing.  The world tells us to fight for our rights, follow our hearts, speak our truth. But Exodus 14:14 says, “ The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” Oh, that’s hard! Stay calm? Follow His word? Bite my tongue? That’s the opposite of what I want to do. But if I say that I trust Him and acknowledge that the Lord’s ways are higher than mine, I will be obedient.  This world is a mess, an

I have a confession. Sometimes (usually while driving), I make the statement, “I can’t stand people!” That’s generally not true, but there are moments when it just feels like the thing to say. Oh, don’t act like you’ve never said it. . .  Humans fail us every single day, whether they intend to or not. That’s why it can be so hard to give everything that we are to our God and our Creator. Our hearts and minds have a difficult time not assigning human values and characteristics to God. Did you know that God does not simply tolerate us? He delights in us. He wants to be with us. When we do something wrong, He doesn’t get mad at us and give us the silent treatment. He doesn’t wait for the perfect time to get back at us when we have wronged Him. Psalm 149:4 says, “For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.” When you feel bad about yourself and your failures, you can be sure that God is still trying to draw you into His arms with unfailing love. He’s not thinking

This weekend I had a conversation with myself (inspired by I can only guess—the evil one). It’s amazing how that voice inside of us can lie so well. I became a bit weepy, as I thought, “I don’t think your words are really going to make a difference. Don’t get too excited about that book. Yeah, God can do big things, but He probably won’t for you.” Yes, these are thoughts of the woman who encourages you each day to trust the Lord. I have moments that I struggle with these things as well.  But I have an encourager too. He is my husband. When I shared my weepiness with him, he told me a couple of stories he had forgotten to tell me before. He shared the impact our story had on some people he had talked to recently. We were in public, so I stifled a sob. I needed the reminder that God will indeed use our story, and He did choose me to make a difference with it in this world. I also began reading a book by my friend Erica Wiggenhorn called, “Letting God Be Enough.” The introduction and firs

I don’t know about you, but I am really battling stress right now. I shared this story a while back, but I need it again, so this is for me as much as it is for you.  Several years ago, I went skydiving. I was attached to my instructor by a harness secured in a couple of different places—two at the shoulders and two at the hips. It was the closest I had been to another adult other than my husband in years. It was uncomfortable at first, but that’s how it had to be to stay secure.  After jumping from the plane, we were free falling at about 120 miles per hour through the sky. It was scary and exhilarating. Once I felt safe enough, I opened my eyes. Then it happened. My instructor pulled a cord, releasing the attachment at the hips, changing our position from horizontal to vertical. I had forgotten that part of the training. For a second, I completely freaked out and thought, This is it. I'm going down. Then I felt his hand grab my arm as if to remind me that he was still there. He d

I was thinking back to a time I subbed in an 8th-grade social studies class. The kids had an assignment where they were to answer a number of questions. One of them was, “What is really on the back of the document, The Declaration of Independence?”  Do you know the answer? If you thought “A treasure map with encrypted instructions from founding fathers written in invisible ink” is right, you would be wrong.  It sounds good, doesn't it?  The student who wrote this was not the only one with that answer but did provide the most detail.   How did they come up with that answer? Well, they remembered something they had seen or heard, and instead of researching it, wrote the answer down as what they considered to be true. Maybe one kid asked another, and he was believable, so the other wrote it down as truth. Then that kid told another kid, and since a couple of them stood behind such a good answer, he wrote it down as well! They didn’t bother to research the answer, because it sounded tr

On this day, six years ago, the Lord pulled my son Isaiah right out from the grip of death’s hands. Today, as we reflect on all God has done through his life and near death, I’d like to share some of his words from a message he gave to our church family on May 22 of 2016, exactly seven months after coming home from the hospital. Today it is for you. “I love to praise God. The other day my mom asked me why I love to praise God. She asked, “What has He done for you?” I said, “Mom, He saved my life. I mean, c’mon.” But here’s the thing, He’s saved all of your lives every day. Even when we don’t know it. So I want to tell people; Hey, God saved your life too, just in a different way. You should praise Him too. It’s okay that this has happened to me. Isaiah 41:10 says, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” I love those words from our boy.   My encouragement for y

As we approach September 8, the day when everything changed for Isaiah and our family, life has become clearer.   My original plan was to have our book released tomorrow, on the anniversary. A poetic notion, right? Well, things didn’t go as planned, and it didn’t work out that way. Once I knew it wouldn’t happen, I was disappointed. Then I remembered that I believe in God’s perfect timing. God knew it wouldn’t happen on that day. He already had plans for it. Now that I’ve had time to reflect, I needed this time. If I were in the middle of a book release, I wouldn’t be clear to see and hear all God needed to teach me before it was released.  I am learning so much. I think back to almost six years ago when I drove past the middle school football field, where I saw a field full of orange jerseys. The players━Isaiah’s teammates were healthy and strong, running plays on the field, preparing for a game. I sobbed. It wasn’t fair. They got to live out my son’s dream━my dreams for my son, while

Yesterday morning I panicked. I have so much to do that it completely overwhelmed me. I had a minor internal freakout and felt like I couldn't do all the things I needed to do, and I felt my heart raced out of control. I texted a friend who has recently had the same kind of checklist I do and told her that I needed help organizing my brain. She promptly sent a video message back told me something I want to share with you. I know many of you are feeling overwhelmed with whatever is going on in your life, and you wonder how you will ever survive this season.  First, you need to breathe. Breathe in, then breathe out. When we breathe, we are actually breathing the name of God.Yahweh sounds like "breath" when you spell it in Hebrew. The Spirit of God is in you. He is for you. Breathe Those words calmed me and reset my mind to what it should have been focused on in the first place. I needed to be reminded of who I’m working with. Friends, if you seek Him and allow Him to work i

Someone needs this reminder. God is not done with you. He is just getting started.  I know it’s difficult to see how He can possibly turn things around, but it’s not meant for you to see. What’s meant is for you to trust. Our God is far more creative than you or I will ever be. For some of us, things haven’t quite worked out because we keep meddling. Every time we step in and step in front of God, we create a situation He has to fix.  Trust Him.  Let the Creator work. Never ever give up. It doesn’t matter who you’ve been, where you’ve been, or what you thought would be. Leave it all at the cross and let the Lord redeem your life. He’s only ever wanted the very best for you, even when you didn’t feel you deserved it.  It’s not about what you deserve. It’s about who He is and the gift of grace He offers you each day.  Take it, then live how He’s called you to live. Do what He’s called you to do. Love the way He’s called you to love. “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all

As I sprint toward the finish line of the publishing process, I can’t help but think back to a handful of years ago when after everyone else had been telling me, and I finally felt God confirming that it was time to put a book together. I was completely overwhelmed with the thought. “I’m not a writer,” I told him.  And I felt in my spirit that He said, “You may not be, but I AM.” I knew then that I would take on this huge task with Him as my guide. Since that time, I’ve been relating that experience to everything else in my life. God asks many of us to do things far bigger than we could ever do on our own. Sometimes that means starting something, quitting something, forgiving someone, going somewhere, or anything else bigger than we are. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve been through, or what you’ve done. The Lord has a specific purpose He has chosen you for. It’s okay if you don’t feel you can’t do it.  He will do it through you. Allow Him to work in and for you. When the Lor